Composite conductor-cable and method of making the same.



W. HOOPES. COMPOSITE CONDUCTOR CABLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 0. 1914.

Patented Fb. 29, 1916.

INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HOOPES, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

.- COMPOSITE CONDUCTOR-CABLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

K To all whom it may concern:

Be it known-that I, WVILLIAM Hoo'rns, a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Composite Conductor-Cables and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to composite conductor cables and the method of making the same.

The object of the invention is to provide aconductor cable formed of two or more metals in which the stresses and strains encountered in use are distributed more'nearly in proper proportions between the different metals whereby each takes more nearly its claimed.

In the drawings, the view represents a diagrammatic illustration of suitable apparatus for carrying out the method.

Electrical conductor cables are 'frequently made of different kinds ofpmetal, such as combinations of aluminum and steel,'copper and steel, aluminum and copper, or other combinations of metal. One common form of cable is made of a steel core surrounded by a suitable number, say six, spiral aluminum' strands, the core and surrounding strands being each formed of one or a plurality of wires. Such cables in use are hung on upright supports and assume a catenary,.

. form between supports. They are subjected to various longitudinal stresses, due to the weight of the cable and to sleet and wind loads which produce efiects identical with an increase in the weight of the cable. The

maximumstress is usually produced by a combination of sleet sticking tothe cables accompanied by a wind occurring at the same time, and also a low temperature tending to shorten the cable and thereby reduce its deflection and increase the mechanical stress, which for a given loading of the cable is fprmgtically inversely proportional to the de ection. 1

In most cable making machines the strands to form the outer envelop are wound around a core as the latter progresses through a machine carrying spools on which the strands are wound. The-core passing through the machine is under no tension but merely'passes through a hollow sleeve or shaft carrying the strand spools,-which revolve around the core for winding the strands thereon. The strand spools are usually provided with a friction brake for imposing slight tension on the strands for takingmp slack and winding them tightly about the'core, but no tension is placed on the core.

If the cable is made ,up of a core of one metal and strands of another the strands and core are capable ofbeing extended with in their elastic limits by different amounts,

depending upon the metals of which they,

are made. For example, in a cable formed of a steel core having an elastic limit of 130,000 lbs. per square inch and aluminum strands having an elastic limit of 14,000 lbs.

per square inch, the core is capable of an extension within its elastic limit ofv .00447 of its length, while the aluminum used for the strands of the envelop around the core is capable ,of extension within its elastic limit of .00156 of itslength. If such a cable 1 is subjected'to a load which will produce an increase of .00156 of its length the aluminum envelop will then be'under tension up to its elastic limit, but the steel core will be under a tension considerably less than its elastic limit. If load is still further applied to the cable so that the total extension of the steel reaches .0044? of its length the steel will be under tension up to its elastic limit, but the aluminum will then have been permanently 5 extended by the difference between .00447 and .00156, or .0O291'of its length. After this permanent. extension of the aluminum has taken place, the cable will not repeat the same motion with temperature variations that it had before the aluminum was permanently extended, since upon disappearance of the ice and wind the first contraction of .00156 of the length of the cable will en-' able form of apparatus is shown in the I num,leaving it all on the steel. Originally,

character of the metal of which they are made. By imposing a tensile stress upon the core before it enters the cable-forming machine, it is possibleto control the relative tensions in the core and strands of the envelop,'so that the tension on the strands may be either higher or lower than the tension on the core. leaves the pulling drum, nearly all of the tension on both the strands and core is removed, since the reel on which the cable is wound after leaving the pulling drum is driven by a force only sufficient to takevup slack in the cable. If the tension on the steel core is made higher than the tension on the aluminum strands being wound around it, the steel core is temporarily extended, and upon leaving the pulling drum the tension disappears and the steel core contracts,

' thereby producing compression in the aluminum strands of the envelop and causing them to spring apart slightly, so that the effect is that the unstressed length of the steel core is shorter than the length of the surrounding strands. When such a cable is put into service the weight of the cable and its external load,-,if any, produces a tensile stress therein, but the" aluminum strands of the envelop receive no tensile stress until after the core has been extended by the same amount as it contracted on leaving the take up drum. The strands of the envelop do not therefore begin to extend until after the cable is carrying a certain predetermined load, and when they do begin to extend the strands of the envelop and thesteel core both reach their elastic the same time.

The methodmay be carried out suitable machine or apparatus capable of imposing the requisite amount of initial tensile stress upon the strands of the envelop and the wire for forming the core. A suitlimits at drawings, where' 1' represents areel for carrying the wire to form the core 2, which core passes through sleeve 3, carrying the spools 4 for holding the strands 5 to be wound around the core, said sleeve and the spools carried thereby being rotatable around the core for After the finished cable on any laying the strands of the envelop. in the 1.-

ordinary manner. Two or three turns of the formed cable pass around a pulling or take-up drum 6 from which the cable is led to the shipping reel 7, on which it is wound. The spools 4 are each provided with an adjustable brake 8, for regulating the tension of the strands being wound about the core. The reel 1 for carrying the wire for forming the core is also provided with suitable adjustable braking means, indicated at 10,

whereby friction maybe imposed upon the reel to retard its rotation and produce any desired amount of tension upon the core, or the .brake may be applied directly to the core just before it enters the sleeve 3. If the core is formed of a comparatively strong material, such as steel, and the strands are formed of a weaker material, such as aluminum, the friction brake 10 is adjusted so as to impose a higher degree of tension upon the core before it enters the cable-laying machine than is imposed upon the strands 5 to form the envelop. I

The difference in tension between the strands and core is regulated according to the materials of which the-core and envelop are formed, varying for different metals, such as aluminum, copper, steel, or the like, but. in any case will besuclrthat when the completed cable ,is put into service the weaker metal will not begin to extend until after the stronger metal has been subjected to a tensile stress equivalent to the difi'erence of tensions imposed upon the same in the cable-laying machine, so that all portions of the cable are extended in such manner as to reach their elastic limits at more nearly the same time. than they otherwise would. Inasmuch as the coefficients of expansion of different metals, such as aluminum and steel, are different, a fall of temperature below the temperature at which the cable was constructed will also tend to make one material, such as the aluminum, take more than its share of the load,'and reach its elastic limit more quickly than desired. Correction for this error can also be made by still further increasing the initial tensile stress on the steel core during manufacture. In practice, however, no such correction is necessary because the cable winding machine does not lay the strands of the envelop closely and usually a fall of temperature such as is ordinarily encountered in service is necessary before the aluminum. strands are shortened sufficiently to, bring them -into actual contact with the core, a condition which is necessary before the itrainds of the envelop begin to take much The method described enables a composite cable to be manufactured so that, its deflection under ordinary conditions is a definite quantity and can be depended upon under normal conditions of service, thereby avoiding a large factor of safety and the construction of unnecessarily high supports for the cable with corresponding increase in cost of installation. It also avoids the necessity of periodically shortening the cable between supports to take up the slack and leave the proper clearance above the ground, thereby at the same time preventing liability of interruption of service to make repairs.

What I claim is 1. A composite cable, comprising a core and envelop formed of different metals, one thereof being under a greater initial tensile-stress. than the other.

2. A composite cable, comprising a core and an envelop composed of different metals, the core being under an initial tensile stress greater than the stress in the envelop.

3. A composite cable, comprising a steel core and an envelop of weaker metal, the

steel core being under an initial tensile stress greater than that in the envelop.

4. A composite cable, comprising a steel core and an aluminum envelop, the steel 7 bles, consisting in winding strands of one metal around a core. of another metal to form an envelop therefor, and placing different tensile stresses in the core and strandsduring the winding thereof.

- 8. lhe method of making composite'cables, consisting in Winding strands of a soft metal around a core of-a harder metal to form an envelop therefor, and subjecting the core to a greater initial stress than the strands for forming the envelop.

9. The method of making, composite cables, consisting in winding aluminum strands around a steel core to form an envelop therefor, and placing an initial tensile stress inthe steel core while winding the aluminum strands thereon.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 1 set my hand.

' WILLIAM HOOPES.

Witnesses:

EMMA UHLINGER, WILLIAM B. WHARTON. 

